A VISIT TO Till COUNTRY. .;'j 



driven from tho hills into largo corral*, when- they can be counted. Those intended M 



draught -., \.-n, UN iiiilch-cowri for dairy <-r laiiiily use, or to be fattened for (daughter or the 

 ii. a; .uid I!P- \'.irliiign are branded HO a to be recognisable 



should tl. long the herds of a4Joinin <*. Moreover, an they arc kept together 



tin- i.-iidi-ii-y to procreation is very greatly increased. Thin bringing of them 

 togi'tht I th- nod Like the ii-ill-i it in a country festival ; there is sure to be 



taking; and as it is tho occasion when horsemanship and skill in the use of the Insno 

 tin- two Moompliahmentl on which a guaso most prides himself can be best displayed, all the 

 iihorhood j.ui -tit -ij.ate. The number of corrals depends on the extent of the herd and 

 the force that can he cul lected to drive ami retain the cattle under control. A* it is a sort of 

 hunt on an iiuiiien.se scale, productive of excitement as well as sport, the patron and his friends 

 al.s.. take part in it, and often goto the hills on the evening preceding the day fixed for the 

 leathering of the animals on the plain. Of course, his party are well provided with conveniences 

 ami comforts for passing a merry night. The friends of the inquilinos and guasos are 

 also on tho heights, scattered along the extent of the pasture ravines, or such numbers of 

 them as will prohuhly embrace as many cattle as can be disposed of during the day. It is a 

 l-retty sj- ht of a dark night to see their fires along the mountain sides, and to hear their voices 

 echoing from hill to hill as they send good humored or jesting greetings to one another. 



On the occasion more especially referred to, there were five thousand cattle on the estate ; to 

 collect which above fifty horsemen gathered, all of them belonging to it as inquilinos or peons. 

 When we went to the fields prior to their last ascent of the hills, they were resting under the 

 shadows of the trees in groups of ten to fifteen, their horses and dogs near by, some browsing, 

 others munching crusts thrown by their masters from the remains of a just concluded dinner. 

 A more picturesque or striking scene it would be difficult to arrange. 



I have called the back-ground hills, because every one in this Andean country so speaks of 

 them, notwithstanding one of the peaks is more than a thousand feet higher than Mount Wash- 

 ington. They present every form and hue : deep ravines, sharp crags, castellated pinnacles, 

 graceful curves, the colors of snow and plutonic creations, with every shade of green from the 

 pea to the dark olive-leaf. At their bases on the plain, the Maiten (Maitenw chUensis), with 

 its slender and willow-shaped leaves; the Boldo (Prunus fragrans), with its dark and fragrant 

 foliage ; the Canelo (Drymis cliilensis)^ the cinnamon-tree of Chile, with its graceful magnolia- 

 like structure ; theMaqui (Aristotelia w.), with its clusters of purple berries; and a thousand 

 smaller plants, diversify the surface. Not less attractive is the animated portion of our picture. 

 The men are dark and swarthy, with beards and heads uncombed, crowned by coarse, broad- 

 brimmed hats of straw ; their costume, heavy ponchos ; leggins of hide, laced over the 

 trousers with dangling tassels far up the thighs ; spurs of the kind mentioned a page or two 

 back ; and shoes with heels above two inches high, to keep the last from touching the ground. 

 Nor are their horses much less remarkable objects ; high piles of skins forming the petton, their 

 immense wooden blocks for stirrups, and lassos coiled on the right of the crupper. But the 

 equipment is of the most useful kind. The pellon, saddle-tree, and poncho, form an excellent 

 bed, pillow, and blanket when night comes; and dashing or dragged through trees and thorny 

 bushes, as they constantly arc when pursuing refractory animals, their faces and legs would be 

 terribly lacerated but for the leggins, stirrups, and slouched hats. 



At the order of the ( (captain or overseer) the party mounted. In accordance 



with previous arrangement, they divided into two bodies, to ascend ridges on opposite sides of 

 one of the ravines nearest to us ; and as they rode upward the individuals spread themselves to 

 embrace the entire hollow. In a little while the whole body was lost to sight, except when 

 an occasional horseman appeared as he issued on a barren ledge. 



If distant from the plain, the party on the crest of the hill begin their descent at dawn, or 

 even before ; driving all the cattle before them as they come downward, each flanker of the ravine 

 into line in turn. Often an animal becomes frightened, and makes efforts to break the 



